The WALLS of EDINBURGH, 1427 - 1764 Castle
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have control of the town whilst the other controlled its The WALLS of EDINBURGH, 1427 - 1764 castle. Save for St Margaret‟s Chapel, nothing survives of David Flintham the first castle - following its capture by Robert I (the Bruce) in 1314 from the English, he ordered the defences to Edinburgh is dominated by its castle on its perch on an be dismantled to prevent English re-occupation. The extinct volcano, known as Castle Rock. Whilst the use of English did re-occupy the site in 1335 and rebuilt some of the site defensively could date back as far as Roman times the defences but could not prevent the castle‟s recapture by and the origins of the castle itself from the end of the 11th the Scots under Sir William Douglas in 1341 and in 1356 centuryi, it was not until around 1130, during the reign of David II set about rebuilding the castle, including a massive King David I, that Edinburgh was established as a royal L–shaped tower at its eastern end which became known as burgh (and didn‟t actually become Scotland‟s capital until David‟s Toweriii. the reign of James III)ii. By the end of the 12th Century, the town‟s existing defences To the north of medieval Edinburgh lay the marshy were being improved and added to – records mention a depression which became the Nor Loch (and is now West Gate by 1160, a South Gate in 1214 and the occupied by the railway and Princess Street Gardens). Netherbow Port in 1369iv. In 1362, the Wellhouse Tower From here, a steep slope led up to Edinburgh (now was built beneath the north wall of the castle to protect its Edinburgh‟s Old Town) and with the Castle on its rocky water supply. But the first recorded wall was known as the outcrop, the north and west sides of Edinburgh were „King‟s Wall‟ which was first recorded in 1427. In 1450, adequately defended. So any walls were needed to James II enabled the burgesses of Edinburgh to defend their primarily defend the south and east sides and it was for city by the issuing of a charter: economic and defensive purposes that the first town wall „Forasmuch as we are informed by our well-beloved (likely to be a timber palisade and ditch) was established Provost and Community of Edinburgh, that they dread the sometime in the 12th century. evil and injury of our enemies of England, we have in favour of them, and for the zeal and affection that we have for the Provost and Community of our said Burgh, and for the common profit, granted to them full licence and leave to fosse, bulwark, wall, tower, turret, and other ways to strengthen our said Burgh in what manner of ways or degree that be seen most speedful to them. Given under our Great Seal at Stirling the last day of April, and of our reign the thirteenth year, anno 1450.v‟ Thus, Edinburgh was one of only three Scottish towns (the others being Perth and Stirling) to be defended by stone walls. The wall was still under construction twenty years later as on 28 April 1472, James III ordered the demolition of houses built on or close to the walls. Below the steep southern flank of what became the Royal Mile, and before the ground rose again ran a hollow which evolved into the Cowgate, a track for the cattle kept in byres in the burgh to go back and forth to pasture on the Meadows. In 1477, James III banned „all quick beasts, kye, oxen‟ within the wallsvi. The wall was about 1.5 metres thick and ran along the south side of the Royal Mile, above the Cowgate, from Castle Hill in the west towards St. Mary‟s Street in the east where it turned northwards to cross the Royal Mile, enclosing a space no larger than 0.8 by 0.4 kilometresvii. Following the disaster of the Battle of Flodden in 1513, the inhabitants of Edinburgh braced themselves for an English invasion and resolved to improve the defences and extend them to cover the Cowgate and Grassmarket areas (it was also an opportunity to control smuggling into the burgh). In February 1514, the French ambassador to Scotland, Sieur de la Bastie, wrote of Robert Borthwick, the master gunner, „hes devisit bulwerkis and trinchis‟ (it is believed that this is the very first use of the term „bulwark‟ in Scottish history) to be made before Edinburgh Castle and to „stuff‟ the place with men and artilleryviii, although these works were not carried out. Never-the-less, it was decided Edinburgh’s defences, showing Flodden and Telfer Walls to build a new wall, which became known as the „Flodden (after RCAHMS) Wall‟ and in early in 1514 the Town Council imposed a levy for its construction and work commenced (although it At various times though its history, Edinburgh would find was not completed until 1560). itself at odds with the castle – it was not rare for one side to Wenceslas Hollar’s 1670 view of Edinburgh from Salisbury here and a number of memorials have been subsequently Craigs. Clearly illustrated are the Flodden Wall and the built into it where it turned south for about 260m and then Bristo Port (at 19), the Potterrow Port (at 20) and the West continued eastwards again (overleaf). Port (22). Hollar indicates that the wall was connected to the castle. © Trustees of the British Museum The wall was as high as 7.35m in places and around 1.2m thick, with rectilinear towers pierced by „dumb-bell‟ loopsix (although these were probably designed for appearance since their function would be unaffected by adding an extra aperture to a gun-loopx), with a clear space of 3.6m on the inside and 7.2m on the outside of the wall. It is probable the wall connected to the castle – following the excavations which commenced in 1912, the site of a postern at the base of David‟s Tower has been identified. This would be the likely point of connection, something indicated on James Gordon‟s c1647 view of Edinburgh Castlexi and on Alexander Kincaid‟s 1784 plan of Edinburgh. Also, modern views of the southern flank of Castle Rock from the east do show a „scar‟ descending the Rock. Whilst neither John Slezer‟s 1671 nor Theodore Dury‟s 1709 plan of the castle show the wallxii, recent archaeological investigations on a site between the Grassmarket and Castle Rock do indicate that the wall in fact did connect to the castle (as well as suggesting that parts of the Flodden Wall were actually built upon earlier defensive walls)xiii. From the base of Castle Rock, the Flodden Wall crossed the western end of the Grassmarket (right), where the West Port was located, and then climbed along the Vennel where the Tower in the Vennel still remains (overleaf). It then The view from the Half-Moon Battery showing the line of turned eastwards, along the northern edge of what is now the Flodden Wall as it crosses the western end of the George Heriot‟s School (previously Heriot‟s Hospital) Grassmarket (the course is marked in the modern pavement before reaching Greyfriars Kirkyard (the wall still exists by light-grey paving stones) before climbing up the Vennel. The Tower in the Vennel is arrowed at the top of the stairs what became known as the „Rough Wooing‟. A clock tower was added to the structure in 1571 and again repaired in the early 17th centuryxv and demolished in 1764. The Tower in the Vennel. The best preserved remains of Edinburgh’s walls, showing one of the ‘dumbell’ loops Engraving titled: ‘The Netherbow Port from the East. Taken down 1764’. Inscribed: ‘Drawn by D Wilson, Engraved by W Forrest’. (SC932534 © RCAHMS. Licensor www.rcahms.gov.uk) The Flodden Wall in Greyfriars Kirkyard (note the The Rough Wooing was just one of a series of disasters that memorials which have been subsequently built into the befell Edinburgh in the 16th Century, as further wall) disturbances took place during the reign of Mary, Queen of It ran across what is now the Museum of Scotland Scots (1542-67) and its aftermath. In 1558, the Protestant (although the wall was recorded by the Ordnance Survey in Lords of the Congregation marched on Edinburgh, taking both 1854 and 1877), the Bristo and Potterow Ports were control of the town with little difficulty and forcing the located in this area, the former marked by the modern street Regent, the French Mary of Guise (and widow of James V) at the rear of the museum. The wall continued along what to fall back on Leith which she had fortified as part of a is now Drummond Street before, turning north at the chain of citadels which included Eyemouth, Dunbar, Leith Pleasance (the Cowgate Port was located at the foot of the and Inchkeith. Piero Strozzi fortified Leith in accordance Pleasance) and enclosing the former Blackfriars Monastery. with current Continental thinkingxvi with the result that The wall then followed the line of St Mary‟s Street to the Leith could boast the most modern fortifications to be Netherbow Port, which stood across the Royal Mile (and is found anywhere in the British Isles (it should also be noted marked by a number of brass studs in the cobbles of the that generally, artillery failed to produce any noticeable High Street). From here, the wall continued north to the change in Scots fortificationxvii). Nor Loch, finishing at the New Port, but the course of the Following the forced abdication of Queen Mary, Scotland‟s wall has been subsequently obliterated as a result of the nobility was divided between her supporters and those of building of the railway (although it would have followed her son, the infant James VI (who was represented by a the line of what is now Jeffrey Street initially before number of regents).